[A] new medicine programme which is the first of its kind in the UK has started at the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) in partnership with North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust (NCUH).
The two-year Hospitalist Medicine programme follows the Royal College of Physicians curriculum to equip clinical professionals from a non-medical background with the competencies to work at ‘registrar’ level in acute medicine.
The course is led by Professor Gershan Davis, professor of cardiology at UCLan and NCUH. The role forms a key part of the Trust’s Composite Workforce Model at West Cumberland Hospital in Whitehaven which is made up of clinicians from a variety of clinical backgrounds rather than the traditional medical model which is hard to recruit to. The model won a national award at the Healthcare People Management Association (HPMA) Excellence awards in June 2017.
Five advanced clinical practitioners from the Trust, who are all nurses by background, have recently joined the pilot programme of the course. Upon successful completion of the course and progression through a recruitment/selection process, these professionals will become senior advanced clinical practitioners (SACPs) and join the middle grade (senior decision maker) composite rota, alongside conventionally trained medical registrars.
Professor Gershan Davis, said: “We believe this to be a definitive first in the UK and it is a new example of how the collaboration between NCUHT and UCLan is helping to lead the way in innovative practice by looking at new models of health care delivery to maintain the health and well-being of our population.”
